The present invention relates to weather strips mounted along door openings of automobile bodies, which make elastic contact with doors when the doors are closed to seal inside and outside of the automobiles.
As shown in FIG. 5, weather strips 1 are mounted along door 70 openings on body 60 sides of the automobiles, which make elastic contact with the doors 70 when the doors 70 are closed to seal inside and outside of the automobiles.
The weather strips 1 often make elastic contact with planes on the door 70 sides. But some weather strips 1 make elastic contact with protrudingly curved surfaces 70a having substantially U-shapes in cross-section, which is protrudingly provided toward an inside from the doors 70 (inner-cabin side when the doors 70 are closed) as shown in FIG. 6 in consideration of design of the automobiles or precision in fitting.
Such weather strips 1 comprise: an installation base member 10 having substantially U-shapes in cross-section in which a flange 140 formed along the door 70 opening is inserted, including an outer-cabin side wall 11, an inner-cabin side wall 12 and a bottom wall 13 which connects the side walls 11, 12; and a hollow seal member 20 integrally molded with the outer-cabin side wall 11 of the installation base member 10, which makes elastic contact with the protrudingly curved surface 70a of the door 70 when the door 70 is closed.
The hollow seal member 20 has a shape of pantograph including a first hollow wall 21 and second hollow wall 22 connected with each other. The first hollow wall 21 is bent around a first bent point 91 to have a substantially reversed V-shape in cross-section and the second hollow wall 22 is bent around a second bent point 92 to have a substantially V-shape in cross-section (see, for example, the Japanese unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2008-174196 and 2010-030445).
The outer-cabin side wall 11 of the installation base member 10 has convexes 15 provided inside (inner-cabin side), which are slidably brought into contact with an outer-cabin side surface of the flange 140 as the flange 140 is inserted. The inner-cabin side wall 12 has a lip 16 having a substantially tongue shape in cross-section formed inside (outer-cabin side), which is slidably brought into contact with an inner-cabin side surface of the flange 140 as the flange 140 is inserted. Also, a decorative lip 17 is formed on a connecting position of the inner-cabin side wall 12 and the bottom wall 13, which extends toward an inner-cabin side and has a substantially tongue shape in cross-section. The installation base member 10 has a core 18 buried therein, which has a substantially U-shape in cross-section.
The weather strips 1 of FIG. 6 and the weather strips of the Japanese unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2008-174196 and 2010-030445 do not cause problems when making elastic contact with the planes on the door 70 sides because the second hollow wall 22 of the hollow seal member 20 as a seal wall side which makes elastic contact with the door 70 is swelled and curved toward the outer-cabin side. But, when making elastic contact with the protrudingly curved surface 70a having substantially U-shapes in cross-section which is protrudingly provided toward the inside from the doors 70, the weather strips have caused problems that a top end 22a side of the second hollow wall 22 curves in a manner to approach an inner-cabin side, thereby generating a triangular aperture 110 between the top end 22a of the second hollow wall 22 and the protrudingly curved surface 70a and, as a result, drops of water which collect in the triangular aperture 110 fall inside the cabin when the door 70 is opened.
Also, elastic contact between the hollow seal member 20 and the protrudingly curved surface 70a of the door 70, not the planes, requires high precision in an elastic contact position. Accordingly, even slight swerve in the elastic contact position caused by unevenness in fitting sharply decreases surface pressure (reaction force), degrades sealing property and causes water leak or enlarges triangular aperture 110.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide weather strips which perform sufficient sealing function when making elastic contact with protrudingly curved surfaces of the doors.